Die Religion Die?

I'll testify!
It’s time to see religion die!
The truth can’t lie!
It’s time to see religion die!
Who cares? Who's right?
It’s time to see religion die!
I'll crush the fight!
It’s time to see religion die!

--Brian "Head" Welch from the song "Die Religion Die"

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

“ When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

--St. Paul (Ephesians 4:7-16)

The expressly ecclesiological passage of Scripture quoted above and the excerpt from Brian Welch's rather angry song seem to clash violently. Brian "Head" Welch is a former member of the rock band Korn who recently converted to Christianity. Now, I certainly do not call into question the validity of his conversion, for it is not my place to judge his experience and his status in the eyes of God. I consider him a brother in Christ, as long as he maintains his profession of faith. Nevertheless, I cannot help but conclude that he is woefully immature, spiritually speaking. One may object that he is simply condemning hypocrisy, which may be true. Who would argue with that? In fact, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and admit that this is probably his intention. However, the glaringly obvious problem is "hypocrisy" and "religion" are not synonymous terms. Religion is a word that, when applied to Christianity, describes its organized nature. The Scriptures clearly and unambiguously reveal that Christ came to establish an organized religion, complete with structure, identified, official leadership, meaning, vision, and purpose. We often hear specious, pseudo-pious pronouncements in our culture such as, "I hate religion. I just love Jesus." Unfortunately for those who adhere to this confession, whatever their intentions, they just cannot have it both ways. To hate "religion" or organized Christianity is to hate the Body of Christ. It is to hate the actual fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ while claiming to love the God whose image they bear, while claiming to love some sort of invisible ideal. The same God who commands us to love Him and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40) also commands us not to forsake the assembly of the saints (Hebrews 10:25). The same Christ all Christians claim to love identifies Himself so intimately with His organized church that it is referred to as His bride. Indeed, as His body, it contains His members, His people, His children, His servants, His sheep, His friends, His beloved. To call for the death of organized Christianity is to call for the death of Christianity itself, at least the kind of Christianity founded on the apostles and prophets. It is to issue a death warrant for the bride of the King of kings, and to call for her head on a platter. There will always be pretending impostors who claim to be children of the bride, among which are hypocrisy, self righteousness, petty moralism, and downright stupidity. If we want to place them before the firing squad, so be it. But, let us set our sites carefully, lest we take aim at the mother herself.


Honor, Liberty, Truth!

The Sight of the Martyr

For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in me for any earthly thing. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: "Come to the Father." I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world I want only God's bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, formed from the seed of David, and for drink I crave his blood, which is love that cannot perish.

--St. Ignatius of Antioch

When one begins to understand Christianity, truly to understand it, one is awestruck by the theme of love that permeates every aspect of its teaching and way of life. This theme of love is too often abused and classified by well meaning theologians as some sort of spineless, unmanly, ungodly, tolerant acquiescence to the way of destruction and lies. This turns our religion into little more than a 60's hippy song, and we start to wonder if it the true prophet of the faith should be John Lennon rather than Jesus Christ. In fact, the love which permeates Christianity is a love of truth, a love of righteousness, a love, in short, of God. This love seems purest in the heart of the martyr. Of course, there is nothing new or unique about one prepared to die for one's religion. In fact, we see horrible examples of this disposition everyday on the news, as fanatical terrorists enter their eternal state after leaving death and destruction in their wake. Eastern mystics will literally starve themselves to death as they seek nothingness, emptiness, and a complete loss of self. Yet, the Christian martyr is far different. The Christian martyr seeks not celestial virgins, obliteration of consciousness, or any such thing. He seeks love, divine love, a love that, while present in the state of the flesh, is somehow obscured and hidden by earthly desires. When once that fundamental, primary, and primal desire for survival is surrendered, the martyr often sees in full that which we only see in part. He attains to a state that is for us a dream. Calling to mind the experience of St. Stephen, it is as if their faith has already become sight.